Proteas coach Boucher admits Aiden Markram was missed in India T20 series

Proteas coach Mark Boucher said the Covid-19 enforced absence of Aiden Markram wreaked havoc with their India T20 series plans.

Markram tested positive for the virus ahead of the first T20 and ended up missing the entire series that was drawn 2-2 after Sunday's fifth game in Bengaluru was washed out.

Boucher said Markram's absence forced them into a different mode of thinking, especially with Markram's excellent Indian Premier League form that saw him make 381 runs at an average of 47 with a strike rate of 139 for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

"It was tough losing Aiden Markram before the first game had even started. It put us under a bit of pressure," Boucher said.

"We wanted to play six batters with Aiden being our sixth bowling option, but we couldn't do that. One of the lessons though is that players are coming out of the IPL and in good form.

"They've been playing a lot of cricket in these conditions."

Boucher, though, said he was happy with the outcome of the series, even though they started well before two unseasonably patchy conditions allowed India to hit back.

South Africa batted second in all four games and won the first two handsomely in Delhi and Cuttack.

However, they came a cropper in the last two T20s, but Boucher said they've also taken lessons from the series despite the different conditions they'll experience in Australia later this year.

"I'll take the 2-2 as we didn't play our best cricket, but it was tough on the IPL players as they had to be in the tournament and stay for the tour," Boucher said.

"I think the guys are mentally tired and they'll enjoy the break, but there are a lot of lessons that you can look at since it's a World Cup year.

"We'll see if we can plug a few gaps, even though we're going to